Congress Hears Testimony on Military Religious Freedom
The House Armed Services Committee heard testimony from several DoD and civilian sources on Wednesday on the topic of religious accommodation in the US military. Witnesses included Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy, Ms. Virginia Penrod, US Army Deputy Chief of Chaplains (BGen) Charles Bailey, US Air Force Deputy Chief of Chaplains (BGen) Bobby Page, and US Navy Chief of Chaplains (RAdm) Mark Tidd. The statements, questions, and answers in the hearing were quite interesting. The hour-long CSPAN-worthy video can be viewed here, with highlights discussed below.
Military.com summarized the session as “Lawmakers Accuse Military of Anti-Christian Bias,” and the Religion News Service noted “Top brass say they’re not aware of bias against military chaplains.” It would seem the public perception of the hearing was somewhat different than what the participants thought.
Retired US Army Chief of Chaplains Chaplain (MajGen) Doug Carver Read more